The Business of Architecture*

Association of Consulting Architects Australia

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Government as Smart Client & Procurement Case Studies

13 November 2013

The Office of the Victorian Government Architect has recently published Government as Smart Client, which provides an excellent guide to procurement in government.

ACA – Vic President Simon Hanger was involved in the industry consultation through which Government as Smart Client was developed. The guide covers procurement processes, the implications for design quality arising from these processes, and recommended strategies to enable good design.

“The methods used to deliver built projects can vary substantially, not just in their decision-making process, risk sharing and contractual methods, but also the way in which they affect the interaction with the design team and their capacity to deliver good design outcomes. The guidelines offer advice on how this relationship may be structured to benefit good design and reviews the various procurement methods to achieve the best possible design outcomes.”

The guidelines provide advice to government, but are also very useful to architectural practices and the wider construction industry. The guide can be downloaded here, free of charge.

The guide is complemented by a series of Procurement Case Studies. Each concerns a particular procurement method and provides an overview of the project, procurement method, constraints and the key steps taken to protect design quality through the process.